Babyland, as some cemeteries call it, is a section reserved for the graves of babies and young children. Some cemeteries don’t have this section at all, while in others there are multiple smaller sections. Euclid Cemetery is one of those, however, that has a very distinct babyland. There are rows of tiny graves near the flagpole at the center of the cemetery. The markers for those graves hint at dozens of tales of accidents and illnesses stealing away young children before their parents’ eyes.
Some stones contain only a name and birth and death dates, leaving the viewer to do the math and realize that a young child lies here.
Most express the grief subtly, with an epitaph about “our boy” or “our darling.”
On some, we learn a nickname. “Little Pete” lived to be only about ten months old.
A few have lambs, a common symbol for the graves of children.
Adults die tragically too, of course. We grieve even those who have lived full, long lives. But with a children, there is something added – I think it is because we all can remember being children and are conscious of how little of life we had experienced at that time.
A Grave Concern 